Train inside the boundary.

01 / Agreement

Agreement and eligibility

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are an agreement between you and HackSim.io governing the HackSim.io website, invited Discord Activity, simulations, live rooms, and related beta APIs (together, the Service). By using the Service, you agree to these Terms and the Privacy Policy.

You must be at least 13, meet Discord's minimum age for your country, have legal capacity to agree, and be an explicitly invited App Tester or developer to launch the unverified Activity. If local law requires a parent or guardian's consent, they must review and approve these Terms.

Discord's own terms, community guidelines, developer safety notices, and privacy policy also apply to your use of Discord. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

02 / Beta

What the current beta provides

HackSim provides synthetic educational cybersecurity playtests. The current NET-101 beta exposes Solo Practice, Pair Progression, and Duels. “Pair Progression” is a mode name; it does not mean curriculum progress is retained.

Scores and debriefs are playtest feedback. The current MVP does not create durable account records for completion, scored outcomes, wins/losses, match history, ranking, belts, credentials, or a leaderboard. Device-local preferences or recent-run display data may reset or be cleared and are not account progression.

The Activity is unverified, not publicly discoverable, and limited by Discord to accepted App Testers/developers and servers with fewer than 25 members. Features, scenarios, availability, and beta data may change or be removed without creating a right to continued access.

03 / Covenant

Ethical Use Covenant

Security knowledge creates responsibility. Use what you learn only on systems you own or are explicitly authorized to test, within the exact scope of that authorization, and in compliance with law and professional obligations.

You may not use the Service to:

• access, scan, disrupt, exploit, surveil, or interfere with a real system without clear authorization;
• develop, distribute, request, or deploy malware, ransomware, credential theft, destructive payloads, evasion tooling, or instructions intended to facilitate harm;
• phish, dox, harass, threaten, impersonate, stalk, discriminate against, or exploit another person;
• advertise or broker unauthorized hacking, stolen access, data, credentials, or other illegal or abusive services;
• submit real secrets, tokens, personal records, proprietary data, active exploit code, or malware;
• tamper with live-room state, identity checks, access controls, or another tester's client;
• scrape, overload, probe, or attack production infrastructure, or use automation except through an expressly provided test interface; or
• use HackSim branding or playtest output to misrepresent authorization, endorsement, certification, competence, or professional status.

Authorized work conducted outside HackSim remains your responsibility. Obtain written scope, follow the rules of engagement and disclosure process, minimize impact, and stop when authorization ends.

04 / Operations

Invitations, identity, and live sessions

Discord is the current identity boundary for invited Activity access. Keep your Discord account and HackSim session secure. Do not share session tokens or use another person's identity. An App Tester or developer invitation is personal and may not be transferred to grant access to somebody else.

Pair and Duel use another person's time. When you accept a session commitment, participate in good faith, communicate professionally, and give the other tester a fair opportunity to finish. Reconnect promptly after an interruption when practical. The current MVP does not save an account-level abandonment, penalty, or dispute history.

Do not expose another participant's private information or place real confidential data in a room. A first-come invitation may be visible to people in its Discord channel, but only an accepted App Tester or developer can launch the unverified Activity.

05 / Rights

Content and intellectual property

HackSim.io and its licensors own the Service, including its software, visual design, curriculum, simulations, names, marks, and authored scenario content. Subject to these Terms, we grant you a personal, limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Service for lawful beta testing and training.

You retain rights in original content you submit, such as explanations or feedback. You grant HackSim a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, transmit, reproduce, format, and display that content only as reasonably needed to operate, secure, review, and improve the Service. Do not submit content you lack the right to use.

You may copy an in-session debrief for personal review, but you may not alter it to imply independent certification, a saved HackSim record, endorsement, ranking, belt, or professional qualification.

06 / Platforms

Third-party services and no payments

The Service depends on Discord, Vercel, and Supabase. Their systems may be unavailable or changed and are governed by their own terms and policies. HackSim is not sponsored by or endorsed by Discord unless explicitly stated in writing.

The current MVP has no paid access, subscription, in-app purchase, premium entitlement, entry fee, wager, prize, or cash-equivalent reward. HackSim does not ask for or process payment-card details. Any future commerce feature would require separate implementation, disclosures, terms, and notice before use; it is not part of this agreement today.

07 / Enforcement

Suspension and termination

You may stop using the Service at any time. We may warn, restrict, suspend, or end beta access; remove submitted content; preserve relevant evidence; or report conduct to Discord, affected parties, or authorities when reasonably necessary to:

• enforce these Terms or the Ethical Use Covenant;
• protect participants, third parties, systems, or the integrity of the beta;
• respond to unlawful, fraudulent, dangerous, or abusive conduct;
• comply with law or a valid request; or
• operate, modify, or discontinue the beta.

Where practical and safe, serious reports will be reviewed before a lasting access decision. Immediate temporary restrictions may be used while a review is pending.

08 / Risk

Disclaimers and limitation of liability

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, HACKSIM.IO DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, AVAILABILITY, AND THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE SECURE OR ERROR-FREE.

Cybersecurity is a changing, high-consequence field. Simulations simplify reality and may contain errors. You are responsible for independent judgment, supervision, authorization, backups, and verification before applying any concept outside the Service. HackSim is not legal advice, an emergency response service, a credential, or a substitute for your organization's procedures.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, HACKSIM.IO AND ITS CONTRIBUTORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES; LOST PROFITS, DATA, OPPORTUNITY, OR GOODWILL; OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, SERVICE INTERRUPTION, OR REAL-WORLD ACTION TAKEN BASED ON THE SERVICE.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED US$100. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions or limits, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

09 / General

General terms, changes, and contact

You are responsible for claims and losses arising from your unlawful use of the Service, violation of these Terms, or infringement of another person's rights, to the extent permitted by law.

Unless applicable law requires otherwise, these Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute not resolved informally will be brought in a state or federal court with jurisdiction in California, and each party consents to that venue. Nothing here limits rights that cannot lawfully be waived.

These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement regarding the current Service. If one provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms without our consent; we may transfer these Terms as part of a reorganization, financing, acquisition, or sale.

We may update these Terms as the Service changes. We will revise the effective date and provide additional notice when required. If you do not agree to updated Terms, stop using the Service.